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Lock On
The ability to toggle a lock on a target it an extremely helpful feature in games. It can help the player keep an enemy in their sights or focus on the biggest threat when fighting multiple enemies. It also allows the player to adjust for their skill level, if they are starting out and not confident in their aim, or if they are facing a particularly quick and tricky enemy, and helps them to focus on objects or enemies that might be a bit out of view or a little far off. Example # 1 Kingdom Hearts Kingdom Hearts offers the player the ability to toggle target lock, and switch between targets quite easily. It’s very useful in many battles, but none so much as with the battle against Sephiroth. Sephiroth is an extremely difficult opponent. He teleports, can attack you from about halfway across the arena, and has attacks which can take you down to 1 hit point instantly. It is imperative that you keep a good eye on him, as loosing track of where he is can lead to a swift defeat. This would be next to impossible without the target lock function as swiveling the camera is just not quick enough for him. Example # 2 Rocket League Rocket League is a game where you play soccer with cars. One of their useful features here is to lock the camera onto the ball so that the player can see its motion. Example #3: GTA V In GTA V, there are multiple examples of camera lock to assist the player. The most obvious example is aim assist when using weapons - the camera will lock onto enemies for easier hit rate and transition between shots. The game is more about eliminating multiple opponents rather than focusing too long on battling one enemy in a gun fight, so this makes sense. The other is when hunting/chasing an objective, the player has the choice to hit a button that will automatically toggle the focus of the camera onto said objective, to help recognize and keep track of whatever the object is. Example #4 The Witcher 3 When facing a single enemy in The Witcher 3, especially in a boss fight, it is best to lock on the enemy so you can easily track their movement and anticipate their actions. That way, it will be easier to know when to dodge when to attack. It also adds more flexibility for the player to facilitate their skills and abilities. Example #5 Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate The ability to lock onto a monster was added with the release of MH3U when it was released for the 3DS. Monster hunters lock on is not a true lock on in the sense that it doesnt always focus the camera on the monster you have targeted. Instead it snaps your camera to the monster whenever the button is pressed. This ability was very valuable for the game due to the fact that the camera controls were otherwise designated to the dpad on the same side as your movement controls or a virtual dpad on the touchscreen. Neither of these options were ideal and left the camera control rather clunky which lead to the addition of the lock on button. The ability to instantly snap your camera to focus onto a monster is very valuable to the player in order to line their next attack.